Ornamental houseplants aren’t just pretty, but also extremely beneficial. Whether you use your summer house as a relaxation room, as a home office, as a hobby room, as a studio, or as a guest room, it’s always a good idea to bring a few plants in.

Our garden buildings make perfect homes for ornamental houseplants as they are equipped with large windows, so your plants will get plenty of natural light. In addition to thriving in a summer house, plants will also reward you with their beneficial properties. Let’s take a look at some of the most notable benefits of growing plants in a summer house and what are some low-maintenance options that are perfect for novice gardeners.

The Benefits of Having Houseplants in Your Summer House

Growing and caring for ornamental houseplants has many surprising benefits. Over the years, studies have shown that having a few green companions around the home can improve our physical and mental health. Here are a few compelling benefits of having plants:

Plants can reduce stress and anxiety – Who would have thought that something as simple as a plant can improve our mental health at home and work? According to this 2015 study, growing houseplants is one of the most relaxing hobbies. Just tending for plants, watering them, and interacting with them in any way can take your mind off your daily worries. The potting soil is another fascinating element that can help reduce stress as it contains a bacterium with stress-reducing properties. When you’re around plants, your body releases cytokines that boost your mood and boost your levels of serotonin. So, instead of searching for expensive ways to relieve stress, try your hand at growing plants.

Plants improve the air quality – studies have shown that indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air. According to the American Lung Association, low-quality indoor air can cause a wide range of medical issues such as asthma, infections, and chronic lung disease. A few examples of common household air pollutants include benzene, radon, mould, and formaldehyde. Luckily for us, many ornamental houseplants filter out the household air. Some examples of plants that have air-purifying properties include English Ivy, Snake Plant, Chrysanthemums, Spider Plants, Aloe plants, Palms, Dracaenas, Weeping Figs, Pothos, Ficus trees, Ferns, and Peace Lilies.

Plants regulate humidity – Plants are a great alternative to dehumidifiers as they can reduce the levels of moisture in their surrounding environment. They do this by absorbing water vapours through their leaves. Through a natural process, called transpiration, plants regulate the levels of humidity. Humidity-absorbing houseplants can thrive on neglect, which means that you don’t have to worry about them. If you want to reduce humidity in your summer house, you can choose plants like Peperomia, Pothos, Aloes, Windmill Palm, Peace Lily, and Boston fern.

Plants boost your creativity – If you are using your garden house as a studio, being creative is surely a very important part of your process. If you are feeling a bit unmotivated and less creative than usual, a few ornamental plants might change that. According to a study conducted by Texas A&M University, having plants nearby can boost your creativity by 15% or even more. As crazy as it might sound, the connection between plants and our creativity might have developed thousands of years ago. For our ancestors, being in the presence of plants often meant being safe and having a reliable food source. This allowed them to feel calmer, thus being able to focus on more creative and intellectual aspects of life. Another theory on how plants can boost your creativity has to do with colours. The colour green is thought to boost productivity and creativity. In fact, according to a 2012 study, looking at green things will boost creativity more than looking at other colours.

Plants boost productivity at work – Summer houses make perfect home offices for many different reasons. They are a perfect size, they can easily be customized based on your needs and preferences, they are made of eco-friendly materials, and provide you with a quiet space to focus on your work tasks. Having a garden office, or a ‘shoffice’ will surely help you be productive and decorating your garden office with plants will boost your productivity even more. Studies have found that bringing ornamental plants into the office can increase productivity by 15%. As it turns out, plants make us feel more connected to nature, which is extremely important for our physical and mental health. You don’t have to fill your summer house with plants for the productivity to kick in. A few cute succulents or a nice statement plant will do the trick.

FAQ

Can you grow plants in a garden summer house?

Any log cabin summer house can make a perfect home to a wide range of houseplants. An insulated summer house will provide your houseplants with comfortable temperatures year-round. Our garden summer houses can be equipped with insulation and with large windows so your plants will have plenty of natural light and won’t freeze during the cold winter months. By wintering your plants in a summer house, you can easily move them outdoors during the summer without carrying them from the main house. As mentioned above, growing plants has many benefits and a wooden summer house is a perfect place to start a new hobby such as gardening.

Do I need planning permission for a summer house in the UK?

Size is the most important factor when it comes to the necessity of getting planning permission for a summer house in the UK. So, the general rule is that if you have a lot of available space, you can get a larger summer house without worrying about planning permission. So, as long as your summer house is single-storey, takes up less than 50% of the available outdoor space, doesn’t have balconies, verandas, or raised platforms that are higher than 0.3m, it won’t require planning permission. In addition to that, summer houses placed within 2m of a boundary can’t exceed 2.5 m in height, and outbuildings shouldn’t be installed further forward than the main house. To make things easier for you, we’ve created a special category for log cabin summer houses that don’t require planning permission as they are under 2.5m.

When it comes to planning permission, it’s important to always check your local laws and regulations as things may vary based on location.

How much does a summer house cost?

If you are looking for summer houses for sale UK, you are probably wondering how much a summer house UK costs. A wooden summer house can cost between £2,900.00 and £56,750.00 and the prices will vary based on size, design, wall thickness, insulation, and the number of windows and doors. We don’t offer the cheapest products on the market because we focus on making high-quality, resistant log cabins with thick walls. Wall thickness is an important aspect to consider and it can lead to higher prices. Cheap summer houses will usually have thin walls and they won’t be as durable.

Where can I find the best summer houses in the UK?

Are you searching for the best summer houses for sale UK? You’ve come to the right place. You can find our high-quality garden summer houses in our online shop or you can visit our display sites in Devon and Leeds. We offer free delivery to most parts of the UK and we also offer installation services. If you have any questions about garden summer houses, do not hesitate to contact us.